United Parcel Service

United Parcel Service Inc., the world's largest package delivery company, said it would raise rates in February by somewhat less than rival FedEx Corp.'s increases. Atlanta-based UPS said it would raise its air express rates 3.7% and raise ground delivery rates 3.1%, beginning Feb. 5. UPS changed its residential surcharge to $1.05 per package from $1 and raised international export rates 2.9%. A fuel surcharge of 1.

Shipping giant United Parcel Service Inc. cut its forecast for 2012 after posting plummeting third-quarter earnings and "uncertainty" about the upcoming holiday season. UPS reported a net profit of $469 million, or 48 cents a share, sharply down 56% from $1.07 billion, or $1.09 a share, in the same period a year ago. Sales also slid nearly 1% to $13.1 billion. Company executives said the so-called fiscal cliff looming at year's end which will prompt spending cuts and tax hikes unless Congress comes up with a compromise, throws more uncertainty into an already fragile economy.

UPS might become known as United People Service--carrying human cargo on planes normally occupied by freight--to make use of its idle planes during weekends. A proposal is expected to be made to top management of United Parcel Service in a few weeks, and UPS airline division spokesman Ken Shapero can already hear the snickers about package deals and wrapping up vacation plans. "We'll probably hear the jokes on Letterman," Shapero said Wednesday. "It's a tall order. . . .

United Parcel Service Inc. lowered its first-quarter earnings forecast, citing higher fuel costs. The company, considered a bellwether of U.S. economic activity, now expects earnings at 86 to 87 cents a share, compared with its previous range of 94 to 98 cents. Shares of UPS fell more than 3.5% in after-hours trading. They fell 47 cents to $73.31 during the regular session.

As part of its Region/District Grant program, the United Parcel Service recently donated $100,000 to the Hispanic Ministry Center's KIDWORKS Program. The grant will benefit at-risk youth. Committees review nominations submitted by employees and recommend candidates to the UPS Foundation Board of Trustees. Information: (714) 554-7500.

United Parcel Service Inc. sold $4 billion of bonds in a three-part offering, according to Bloomberg News data. Proceeds from the debt sale will help fund the Atlanta-based package delivery company's withdrawal from the Central States pension fund, Lisa Jenkins, a Standard & Poor's analyst, wrote in a research report Thursday.

UPS said it would increase rates for ground, air express and international shipments that originate in the United States by an average 4.9%, effective Dec. 31. United Parcel Service Inc. said the increase for air express and international shipments is based on a 6.9% increase in the base rate, less a 2% reduction in the current fuel surcharge. The increases announced by the Atlanta company appear to be in line with those recently announced by Memphis, Tenn.-based FedEx Corp.

United Parcel Service Inc. on Sunday reached a tentative, five-year agreement with the union that represents about 240,000 full- and part-time UPS employees in the United States. UPS said the deal included wage increases and significant contributions to healthcare and pension plans for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The agreement beats a deadline today that the union had set for a tentative contract.

United Parcel Service Inc. will get a new hearing on whether the Atlanta-based company violated federal law by barring hearing-impaired employees from driving smaller trucks. A full panel of judges of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco agreed to rehear the case. Last year a three-judge panel of the same court said that although UPS must exclude deaf people from driving vehicles weighing more than 10,000 pounds, in accordance with U.S.

Airbus was left with an empty order book for the cargo version of its much-delayed super-jumbo jet after United Parcel Service Inc. said Friday that it would cancel its 10-plane order. The move comes just a week after UPS and Airbus reached a revised agreement that gave either party the right to terminate the order. UPS said it decided to cancel after it learned that Airbus was diverting employees from the freighter program to work on its passenger plane program.

United Parcel Service Inc. and plane maker Airbus have agreed that either company can cancel an order this year for 10 A380 freighters after repeated production delays. UPS will decide whether to retain the $2.8-billion order after getting new delivery dates from Airbus, a UPS spokesman said Friday. The companies declined to provide details of the accord.

UPS Buys French Delivery Company: United Parcel Service, gearing up for the European common market next year, has purchased Prost Transport for more than $50 million. Since 1985, UPS has acquired 11 other delivery companies in Europe. The Prost acquisition will expand its operations in France by 1,350 vehicles, 61 offices and 2,000 employees.

United Parcel Service Inc. ordered 27 Boeing Co. 767-300 freighters valued at as much as $3.89 billion to meet demand from increasing global trade. The purchase comes as Atlanta-based UPS remains in talks with European plane maker Airbus over its delayed order for 10 A380 jumbo freighters. The new Boeing planes aren't intended to replace the A380s and will instead fill shorter-range needs, UPS said. The 767s will be delivered from 2009 to 2012.

The conveyor belts, nearly 22 miles of them, merge into a single thrumming blur. And the pace of overnight package movement during the 5-to-11 p.m. Twilight Sort, which already was at a frantic pace, shifts to another level entirely. This is the yearly triathlon of the holiday shipping season at places such as United Parcel Service Inc.'s Ontario International Airport hub, the Atlanta-based company's second-largest U.S. facility and its West Coast gateway to trade with Asia.